Move frequently used areas to the car-free side
By placing frequently used spaces on the low-traffic side of your building, you can reduce exposure to traffic emissions.
You tackle the following challenges:
That's how you do it
Motorized traffic is a major source of air pollution. If your building is located on a busy road, the pollution, together with the traffic noise, will enter through windows, doors and cracks in rooms on the street side. In practice, however, the difference in air quality with spaces that open onto the garden, the playground or a car-free street is often not so pronounced.
Tips
- When designing your building, take into account the orientation of the various spaces in relation to traffic. In an existing building, it is much more difficult to change the layout unless you have major renovations planned.
- Living or sleeping areas, classrooms and office spaces are best located on the low-traffic side of your building. The traffic-oriented side is used for less intensively used areas such as corridors, dining rooms, sanitary facilities or storage areas.
- Spaces for vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly or people with health problems should be provided as far as possible from busy streets.
- Even if your building is located on a busy road, it is important to ventilate well . By ventilating as much as possible on the traffic-calmed side of your building, you can also limit exposure. Provide window grilles and other supply openings on the traffic-calmed side.
More information
- Well thought-out location (Department of Welfare, Public Health and Family, Flanders)
- Indoor air quality in school buildings (Netwerk Architecten Vlaanderen)
